207 



reproductive products, which invade and cause to swell enor- 

 mously the mantle, and also every part of the body which is not 

 occupied by organs or muscle, had been extruded, leaving 

 behind a thin, watery, and semi-transparent animal, so 

 emaciated in appearance in the case of the older mussels that one 

 is almost led to wonder how they survive. The " fat " 

 condition of the mollusc which forms such a contrast to this 

 state of emaciation, is dependent upon the amount and 

 conditions of the sexual products ; this is " common " know- 

 ledge to the fisherman, and a closer examination of the 

 reproductive phases during the two years under consideration 

 bears it out. 



The spawning time of the mussels in the Morecambe Bay 

 area has received some attention in the past. Herdman and 

 Scott* record that in 1894, mussels matured about the middle 

 of May and that spawning continued until the middle of July. 

 Scott| confirms, two years later, that the mussel reaches 

 maturity about the middle of May. So far as the Morecambe 

 Skears themselves are concerned, Mr. Edward Gardner, 

 Honorary Bailiff to the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries, 

 has kindly given information drawn from his long experience, 

 and which may be summarised as follows : — The main spawning 

 time is about the middle of April, but the actual date varies 

 slightly according to the weather. Some beds seem to ripen 

 before others, and there may be a spa^vning at the back end of 

 the year which never comes to very much and seems to be 

 due to the younger mussels which recovery more rapidly than 

 the older ones. 



Certainly there is other evidence for this spawning later in 

 the year,t but so far as the evidence of the two years under 



* Herdman and Scott. Lancashire Sea Fisheries Laboratory Report, 

 1894, p. 40. 



t Scott, ibid., 1896, p. 5. 



X Johnstone, Lancashire Sea Fisheries Lab. Report, 1898, p. 36 ; 

 Aseroft, ibid., p. 81. 



